Roughly half of a congressionally appointed commission to reform the Veterans Affairs Department suggested an expansion of community care for veterans and a systematic closure of some VA medical facilities. The “strawman document” emerged as the VA pilots a few new programs to help veterans gain more control over their health care.

Congress is beginning to get a clearer picture of the Veterans Affairs Department’s new Choice Program, which lets veterans access private sector community care providers if they choose. But members on the House VA Committee question the department’s continued involvement in scheduling appointments for veterans.

Before her retirement, Vivieca Wright Simpson had been with VA for 32 years. Peter O’Rourke, the director of VA’s new Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, will serve as VA’s permanent chief of staff going forward.

Jeff Neal, former chief human capital officer at Homeland Security and vice president at ICF, has been following the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act and its aftermath carefully, and joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss its effects.

In today’s Federal Newscast, in the wake of a report which says corruption is getting worse, Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics reminds federal employees about the oath they take to perform their duties.